Barcelos is a city in the North of Portugal, in the heart of Minho, a province known for luxurious nature and strong culture and tradition. It is also a province know for its' clayworkers, "barristas", people with no learning in the area, who work marvelous figures out of clay.
One of Portugal's symbols is the Barcelos rooster, the black clay rooster decorated with red hearts and other colourful items.
There is a legend associated to the rooster, which I will simply copy from a flier I collected somewhere:
"The medieval stone cross, which forms part of the patrimony of the Archaeological Museum of the town, is related to the curious legend of the cock. According to this legend, the inhabitants were very disturbed by a crime of which it had not been possible to discover the author. One day, however, there appeared a man from Galicia, who was suspected of having committed it. He was arrested and, notwithstanding his protestaions of innocence, nobody believed him when he said that he was on his way to Saint James of Compostelle (Spain) to fulfill a vow and that he was a ferverent devotee of the Saint venerated in Compostela on a par with St Paul and Our Lady. And so he was condemned to be hanged. But before the execution he asked to be taken to the presence of the judge who pronounced the sentence. His request was granted and they took him to the house of the magistrate, who was dining with some friends. The Galician once again protested his innocence and, to the amazement of those present, pointed to a roasted chicken on the table and exclaimed: "As surely as I am innocent will that cock crow if I am hanged!" There was an outburst of laughter and comments, nevertheless nobody touched the cock. And what seemed impossible actually happened. When the pilgrim was being hanged, the cock stood up on the table and crowed. No one any longer doubted the innocence of the condemned man. The judge rushed to the gallows and horrified saw the wretched man with the rope round his neck, but the knot was caught and thus prevented him from being stangled. He was immediately released and sent on his way in peace. Years later, he returned to Barcelos and built the monument to Saint James and to the Virgin."
Not a story with much imagination, but these old stories seldome are ...
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